Delicate Stages of Life (Drabbles)
by Wonderlandmind
Summary: Following the life of Bucky and Ana after Delicate Stages. (do not read unless you've read Delicate Stages first) Life in Wakanda is filled with love, laughs, some tears, all emotions, lazy days, goats, hot springs, a soul connection, and something dark that looms over Bucky and Ana's domestic bliss...
1. Break Me Down

Delicate Drabble "there's a numb in my toes standing close to the edge"

 ****Present Day****

"You're shaking the entire jet, Rios." Steve informs her, glancing over his shoulder in amusement.

"Sorry…but not really." Ana shrugs, smiling so wide her eyes are nearly shut. "I'm just-" she forces out a breath, "I'm so excited. Fuck, I'm so happy! Not that I won't miss you and everyone else, I just-"

"I know." He interrupts her gently. "You both deserve this, to be happy and be with each other."

"Thank you for understanding that, Steve." Her voice softens in gratitude. "And thank you for being there for me. I don't know how I would've gotten through all these months without you pulling me out of depression."

"You're family, Ana. We're there for each other no matter what."

She nods. It's quiet for a moment before her smile comes back. "Bet you're excited too though. You haven't seen Bucky for almost as long as me."

"Yeah." Steve chuckles, quickly focusing his eye back on the sky. He swallows the lie bitterly. It's not the first time in ten months. In fact, Steve has seen Bucky for the first time seven months ago. Then one month ago. "Yeah."

 ****Seven months ago****

"What happened?" Steve demands, trying to keep his voice calm and patient. He's panicking internally, though he would never let T'Challa, Shuri or their team of scientists see that.

"There's no need to worry, Captain." T'Challa informs him calmly, his hands behind his back in a relaxed manor. "Our country had a minor incident for a few days. It was taken care of, however, there was some damage to the lab, which caused a momentary loss of power."

Shuri clicks her tongue. "Brother makes it sound worse than it was. Everything is fine. The technology I have been using for Sergeant Barnes malfunctioned briefly. We woke him up to fix it without accidently shocking his brain."

"So, he's alright then?" Steve asks, crossing his arms and trying not to laugh as the King of Wakanda side-eyes his sister.

"Yes, yes! He's fine. He is sitting in there looking like a lost puppy." Shuri chuckles, then steps closer and her humor drops. "I think he thought we fixed him, that Ana was here to surprise him."

Right, he expected that might be the case. He also braces himself, because Bucky asked Steve to take care of Ana, and he's going to have to give him the rundown of the past three months. Bucky will ask, because he has constantly thought of her from the moment he met her. He is not going to like what Steve is going to tell him.

"Do you mind giving us some time alone?" Steve requests the royal siblings.

They both nod, and that's all the permission he needs to enter the lab. Bucky is sitting on the same table he had been when they first arrived in Wakanda. There's an IV stand next to him, but his right arm is free of any needles or cuffs. The medical team must've already taken his vitals for the day, just a precaution for being brought out of ice again. Bucky is swinging his legs back and forth, and his expression is neutral, if a little weary.

"You sure this ice tube can't do anything about your looks?" Steve quips once the door is shut.

Bucky glances up at his voice, his eyes rolling upward. "Says you, you little punk. You were frozen for longer."

Steve laughs then hugs his best friend once he reaches the table. Bucky returns the embrace with his arm, then shoves Steve to the side.

"Missed you, jerk." He says, purposely knocking into Bucky as he hops on the table. "Doing okay?"

"As well as I can right now. How've you been?"

"Alright. There's the issue of the Accords being brought up again, makes for fun dinner talk."

"I bet." Bucky chuckles lightly. "How's everyone else?"

"Good, good. Barton fell asleep on a mission recently, it was that boring."

"I envy his ability to just fall asleep anywhere."

"Must be nice."

"And how's…Ezra?"

"Ezra is good, He's a cat, so, he has it made."

The silence that falls between them is heavy. Steve waits patiently for Bucky to ask what he really wants to know.

"Does she hate me?" Bucky's voice comes out small.

"Ana could never hate you, Buck."

His jaw clenches briefly as he nods. "She's healed? Her knee?"

"All healed. She's a little more limited this time around though, since she refused Stark's bionic rods. Doesn't stop her from boxing though."

Bucky huffs a laugh under his breath. "I wouldn't expect her to." He pauses, then his eyes meet Steve's. "How is she- uh- otherwise?"

This is what he has been waiting for. "The truth?"

"Yes."

"Not good, Bucky." Steve tells him sadly. "She's had a really hard time with it. Ana misses you. A lot."

He ends up telling Bucky what he keeps walking in on.

 ****Three weeks gone****

 _It's only been a few weeks since Bucky had left, and Ana has been scarce more often than not for those days. Steve needs to check on her, since he hasn't seen Ana for hours and she skipped dinner. Again. At this point, Steve doesn't even bother going to the gym or her room. Instead, he goes to Bucky's. He gently opens the door, and right where he expected her to be, Ana is curled up in the middle of the bed. She's clutching one of the many journals left behind for her._

 _Bucky's scent still lingers in every fiber of the room. He knows this is why Ana comes here. It's not to be sad, it's just a form of comfort to her. To remember his smell, to feel his bed, to read his words, to fall asleep peacefully with his presence wrapping around her like a phantom hug._

 _Steve gave up trying to move Ana to her own room the third time he found her like this. Instead, he carefully maneuvers the comforter around, bringing it up to cover her body. Then, he gently moves one of Bucky's pillows under Ana's head, and slowly sits next to her on the bed. This is a lot harder than he ever thought they would both take Bucky's absence._

 _When sunlight streams into the room, Steve winces, opening his eyes. He's met with Ana staring up at him with wide, brown eyes that are a little bloodshot. He blinks and adjust his neck, pushing himself to sit up straighter._

" _Why do you stay with me in here?" Ana questions right off the bat, voice thick like she had been crying again. "This is hard for you too."_

" _Misery loves company. Isn't that what they say?" He responds gruffly._

" _That's really sad when you think about it."_

 _Steve nods, remaining silent._

" _He asked you to take care of me, didn't he?" She whispers, clutching the notebook in her hand tighter._

" _Yes."_

" _Thank you." Ana says gently._

 _Then she pushes herself up and leans over. She places a gentle kiss on his cheek, just quick and friendly gesture. Abruptly, she smacks the journal against his forehead as she pulls back._

" _Now get your lazy old ass up. I'm hungry and you're taking me to Luna for coffee and cheese danishes."_

" _Am I now?"_

" _Yes." Ana shakes the journal in her hand as she stands from the bed. "Bucky specifically said that if you don't make me happy, that when he wakes up he's going to kick your punk ass. Danishes makes me happy. Now let's go, Cap!"_

"Well," Bucky prompts. "Did you get her a danish?"

"I bought her a whole box." Steve rolls his eyes, shoving his friend. "I hate you for that, by the way. She demands danishes every Saturday now."

"She works you with those big eyes as she flutters her lashes, doesn't she?"

"How did you ever resist her for anything?"

"I didn't." Bucky chuckles before it fades away. The mood suddenly turns sad. "Except for this."

"Ana knows it's for the best, Buck." Steve reminds him.

"I know. She's amazing. I love her. It's why I'm doing this." Bucky sounds like he's still trying to convince himself. "I'm doing this so that when I do go back to her, she'll be safe."

"She wasn't doing a good job at keeping herself safe." Steve mutters.

A dangerous gleam flashes in Bucky's blue eyes. "Meaning?"

Steve sighs.

** **One month gone** **

" _One…two bottles of wine…and ten mini bottles of vodka. She doesn't even like vodka!" Tony snaps, throwing the empty bottle against the wall._

 _Thankfully it's plastic. Steve understands Tony's frustration and worry to an extent. He remembers when Bucky fell from the train all those decades ago that he tried drowning himself in alcohol. If it weren't for the serum burning the affects away, he would have. Steve had a war to fight then, he had other people to save, he had the world to save and he had to remain focused. He had Peggy to help him through it, to remind him that Bucky wouldn't want him to drown his heartbreak away. Steve needs to channel those same words now._

" _Pepper doesn't find out about this, Rogers. Not yet." Tony tells him, holding up a threatening finger. "Goddamnit! She isn't supposed to be like me!"_

 _With that, he spins on his heels and rushes towards Ana's room. Steve's heard of Tony's past days where he would drink until he blacked out, spiraled into a near self-destructing shell of a person. He knows the anger is resonating from fear of watching Ana do that to herself. Wincing at what might happen when Tony finds her, Steve follows behind quickly._

 _Tony hesitates by her door, fiddling with the lock before he disables it and enters her room. She isn't there, but it doesn't stop him. Steve follows as Tony doesn't hesitate to exit out her open window. Both men make it up to the roof in record time._

 _Ana is laying on the lounge chair, holding up one of Stark's most expensive bottles of vodka, almost like she was expecting for Tony to march over and snatch it away. Which he does. Steve can tell by how tense his shoulders are and the set of his jaw just how utterly furious he is. Until they both see her expression, and the anger melts away from Tony's body._

 _He hands the off bottle to Steve, gesturing for him to just toss it. He does so without any regrets, chucking it over the side of the roof. Then he sees Tony sit next to Ana, gently grabs her arm to pull her up and holds her tightly against his chest. He hugs hers, keeping his hand on the back of her head as her face presses into his shirt._

 _Steve realizes her body is trembling, her hand is clutching Tony's back. He hears the muffled sniffles and he wants to move forward, wants to join in to comfort her. But as he continues to watch them, Tony's arms tightening around her, he thinks better of it._

" _I don't know how to handle this."_

 _Steve hears Ana's shaky, slurred words, and he's thrown back to that first night after Steve came back from bring Bucky to Wakanda. He found her sobbing on Bucky's bed, repeating those same words. He just held her like Tony is holding her now._

" _You're going to be okay, Ana. I got you. I got you." Tony soothes softly._

 _Steve knows the situation is under control, that if anyone can comfort a drunk and upset Ana, it's Tony. Making his decision, Steve quietly leaves the roof, giving them privacy. This is what her family is for. This is what she has Pepper for, what she has Tony for. Sure, the rest of them have become an extension of her family, and Steve knows Ana will fight for that no matter what, but this time. This is just between her and Tony._

 _When he reaches her room, Steve quickly and thoroughly checks any hidden compartments for more bottles. He finds only two; whiskey and wine, still full. What flutters to the ground after he checked her pillow cases, pauses his search. He picks it up to replace it, but the words written on the paper makes his curiosity get the best of him._

 _It's a letter Bucky left behind for her, just like he did with his journals. Except, this one seems more personal, more intimate, reads like a poem, and Steve hurriedly puts it back. He knows she's read it, since the letter had weathered fold lines and smudges that looked like tears on the paper._

 _He leaves her room, rounds up Nat and Wanda, and together they get to work on cleaning out the place of alcohol. Just for a little while._

"Did you read it?"

"Just the first sentence before I realized how private it was. The words just popped out, sorry Buck."

Bucky waves off his apology. "How long did the drinking last?" He questions, his voice small and full of remorse.

"Two weeks." He answers honestly. "Pepper took her away for a week to Paris, and when she came back, she seemed much better."

"Paris." Then suddenly Bucky releases a loud laugh. "One of the first things she ever said to me in French," He drops his face into his hand for a moment, laughing more. "She asked me if I wanted to sleep with her."

"What?" Steve laughs in shock.

" _V_ _oulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir._ Apparently, my expression made her laugh so hard she nearly fell off the treadmill. She kept saying it to, just to make me blush."

"You were so head over heels for her within a week, Bucky."

"I really was. I still am. I always will be."

Steve smiles at the clear love Bucky has for Ana. Then he winces because he just remembered that one time she tried making that last martini a week after she came back from France. He tells Bucky much.

"This doesn't sound good." Bucky sighs heavily.

It wasn't.

** **Two months gone****

 _They're all looking at her, and Steve knows by the irritated twitching in her jaw that she can feel it. He wants to offer his help, but he remains silent, knowing his head will be bitten off if he even opens his mouth. Sam seems to be the bravest soul out of all of them; even Banner is nervously fidgeting in the corner._

 _Steve doesn't even know where she got hold of more vodka, but at least this was her first drink in months._

" _Ana, let me help you with that." Sam offers kindly._

 _They should have expected the loud smack of the jar against the counter, but the noise still makes them all flinch. When Ana lifts her eyes to Sam, there's a rage of fire in them, something Steve has never truly seen from her before._

"It's fine _." She grits through her teeth, voice clenched. She turns the jar of olives upside down. "I just need to do that trick with the-" she bangs it on the counter – "tapping of the-" She hits it again, "lid." She flips it back over and tries twisting the top off again._

 _It doesn't budge. It's strange, watching her struggling with something as simple as opening a jar, however, deep down, Steve knows that isn't the issue. The issue is Ana's lack of sleep for the past three weeks. The issue is Ana's crazy work ethic lately, where usually working everyday and being focus would be a good thing at times. With her, it's not. Especially when Steve catches her popping Adderall pills just so she could focus on new mental health research and that machine Telly had told her about months ago._

 _When he caught her the third time, Steve snatched the bottle away and made her tell him what was going on. All she told him was that she had to help find a way to make Bucky's triggers go away, because she failed him over and over and she can't fail him again. Steve's heart broke at her words and he ended up silently sitting at her desk in the Lab until she passed out on her key board._

" _No!" Ana snaps, pulling Steve from his thoughts. Sam apparently tried offering again. "I can do this okay, Sam. I just want olives, like I just want my vodka martini like really dry- open you damn piece of fucking shit- really dry and really dirty. Like a really dirty martini with at least three olives and-"_

 _She stops talking, grimacing as she twists the top again. Finally, it pops off and a bit of juice and a few olives fall onto the counter. She slams the jar down, grabs the rolling olives and plops them in her martini, followed by pouring a little of the juice into it as well. She hastily grabs a paper towel off the roll and cleans up the juice on the counter, throwing the wet paper towel in the sink._

" _See. Easy." She states dryly, picking up her glass. "Now. If you'll all excuse me, I have a dirty date tonight." She lifts her drink as proof, then leaves the kitchen._

 _Ana has no idea Steve has been watching her break down for the past ten minutes. He wanted to intervene, wanted to stop her from using her energy, but something stopped him. Maybe the tears in her eyes, or how she was giving her all into the punching bag. She had already knocked down one, when Steve entered the gym, and now she's wailing on the second one._

 _Her chest is heaving, sweat dripping down her body. The lights keep flickering as if there's a bad storm raging outside rather than the form of a person. The chains holding up the bags rattle, and the treadmills actually beep and turn on once in a while._

 _A sob ripping through the charged air makes Steve finally enter the gym. Ana is throwing punch after punch, fast and hard and she's crying. She's crying, and sobbing and before Steve can reach her, she punches the bag clean off the chain with a jet of golden yellow light. It flies across the room and slams into the opposite wall, further than the first one did._

 _She turns as she accidently knocks her gloves into her head when she tried to grab her hair. She releases a frustrated growl, tearing off the velcro gloves and throwing them to the side. She's panting, her body shaking along with the lights on the ceiling. Ana hastily wipes her eyes and she finally notices Steve standing in front of her._

 _Her chin quivers for a moment, then she steels her emotions so fast, it's scary. So, Steve says nothing, and walks past her. He knows. He understands this. The lack of sleep, the dreams, the pent up energy, the unadulterated anger and frustration. Ana may not have been frozen for 70 years only to wake up to a different world, where everyone she knew was gone and had been thrown right into more wars._

 _That may not have happened to her, but Ana's own world shattered around her and she had to watch the love of her life almost die trying to protect her. She almost died trying to protect him, only to lose him in a different way and watch him go with the ever-looming threat of darkness hanging over them._

 _He knows Ana didn't fall under ice for 70 years, that they don't have in common. Losing Bucky. That is something Steve understands exceptionally well._

 _Steve picks up the closest punching bag, dragging it over and re-hooking it. He repeats the same process with the other bag, then he goes to the little bucket of bottled water to grab one. He offers it to Ana, but she just turns, and starts punching again. He sighs, dropping the bottle in favor of watching her. Just making sure she doesn't actually hurt herself._

 _After another two rounds of knocking the bags off and Steve going to fetch them, Ana actually screams. She screams in what sounds like aggravation and stops punching. She rips the gloves off again, lifting the right one and chucking it at the wall. She repeats the motion with the left, then starts hitting the bag again. Only she isn't punching it. She's literally just smacking her palms against the bag, releasing little grunts and growls._

" _This. Is. So. Fucking. Stupid!" She yells with each hit._

" _Ana." Steve finally speaks up. He has to, otherwise she'll brake her hands._

" _No! No, Steve! This is stupid! It's fucking stupid! He's so fucking stupid!"_

 _He grabs her by her arms and spins her around. Her momentum follows, and she accidently punches him in the gut. Steve huffs out a breathless grunt because he wasn't expecting that, and also because Ana is much stronger than she lets on. She doesn't look sorry. She just grabs his shirt, scrunching the material in her fists, trying to shake him back and forth._

" _He's your stupid friend, Steve! He's stupid and you're stupid for not stopping him and I'm stupid for letting him leave! Fuck him and fuck you and fuck me all over the fucking city because I fucking failed him!"_

 _Steve wraps his arms around her, squeezing her tight to his body, holding her steady. He keeps his grip strong, so Ana can't free herself, and she finally breaks down against him. She sobs into his chest, her body shaking and the lights pop, throwing the gym in darkness._

 _Ana lost Bucky. It's the same, but different. It's so different for her because Ana is in love with Bucky, and he's still well and alive, but he's in a place where she can't reach him. Ana and Bucky have a different level of connection and that is all due to their energies being intertwined in more ways than one. The intimacy level of their relationship is unparallel to anyone else's. It's like they can almost feel each other. So, this, this has to be devastating to her._

" _I failed him. I failed him." She keeps repeating between her cries._

" _Ana, listen to me." Steve says vehemently. He doesn't think softness will get through to her right now. He puts conviction in his next words. "You did not fail him. You hear me? You did not fail him."_

" _I miss him so much."_

" _I know, I know, honey. It's okay. You're going to be okay, I promise. I promise you'll see him again."_

 _He believes the words himself when he says it to her. Steve knows where Bucky is, and he knows the Wakadan team his friend has behind him are trying to work this out. Ana falls silent after that, her sobs slowly coming to an end. Steve doesn't know how long he stands there for, trying to hold his best friend's girl together._

 _Finally, she stops crying all together and when she pushes herself back, Steve lets her. Ana wipes her eyes, now puffy and red, then wipes under her nose. Steve leaves her for a moment to grab a box of tissues by the towels, handing it to her when he returns. She gives him a watery smile, then chuckles humorlessly._

" _I snotted all over your shirt." She says wetly, dabbing at her nose. "I'm so sorry, Steve. I didn't mean for all of this to happen. I'm sorry I hit you."_

" _Don't apologize for any of that." He tells her, reaching out to grab her elbow. "I just need you to get some rest, alright? No work, not drinks, no gym. Just sleep. Can you do that for me?"_

 _Ana nods. "Yeah, yeah. I think you're right. I need to sleep."_

" _C'mon. I'll walk you back."_

Bucky sighs heavily. "Fuck. Of course, she would do that." He says sadly, fiddling with a thread on his pants.

"I shouldn't keep telling you these things, Buck." Steve frowns. "They just upset you."

"I need to know how she is."

"Why don't you just come back?" Steve pleads. "We can figure something out. I'm sure Shuri-"

"It isn't safe, Steve." Bucky interrupts him bitterly. "If there's even the slightest chance of being triggered again." He shakes his head. "She can't keep fighting me off with her energy alchemy. It could kill her. I could-"

He swallows thickly but doesn't continue.

"Bucky, she needs-"

"Don't. Do not finish that sentence."

"Why? Because you know I'm right and you know it's the truth and if you hear it you'll come back."

Bucky looks to be in physical pain, close to tears. "I _can't_." He whispers. "I want to, fuck, I want to go back to her so bad, you have no fucking idea but I. I can't. Fuck!"

Bucky shoves his hand through his hair roughly, gripping the roots. Steve backs off, because it isn't just hard for Ana. He knocks Bucky's hand out of his hair, then squeezes his right shoulder in comfort.

"I'm sorry for pushing." Steve apologizes quietly. "I know it's rough on you too."

"I dream about her all the fucking time. She's constantly in my head and when you woke me up I thought she would be here. I thought I was fixed and cured and I'd hold Ana in my arms again."

Steve didn't really think about that fact. He was called to Wakanda because that incident caused damage to the lab and Shuri had to prematurely wake Bucky up as she fixed it, and T'Challa called Steve asking if he wanted to see his friend during this time. He neglected to tell Ana about it. He didn't think informing her, just to see Bucky for a few minutes and have to say goodbye all over again, was a good idea. Not when she was finally starting to sleep normally, eat properly, and slowly gather herself together.

"I'm sorry." He tells his friend again. He can't take seeing this amount of sadness and heartbreak on their faces anymore.

"Don't be, it isn't your fault." Bucky sighs wearily. "I just miss her."

They fall silent for a while after that. There's a heaviness between them, the same one that Steve feels when Ana is in the room with him. He still finds it fascinating how connected both their energies are. His eyes flit across the room, landing on Shuri as she intently focuses on the computer.

"Has Shuri mentioned how close they are to erasing the triggers?" Steve inquires.

"She said they're really close, just one more thing to figure out." He shrugs, following Steve's line of sight. "If anyone can do it, I think she can. Besides Ana. Tell her that for me, will you? I don't think she believed me when I said she didn't fail."

Steve turns to look at him.

"Steve. She could never fail me. Ever." Bucky states with a fierce passion in his tone.

"Deep down, I think she knows that. I hope she does."

"Sergeant Barnes," They're interrupted by Shuri's voice coming from behind them. "It's ready."

Bucky's eyes fall shut, inhaling deeply. Steve doesn't miss the stray tear that falls down his cheek. It's his choice, but going back under isn't easy. He claps Bucky on his shoulder, squeezing to offer him comfort. Bucky nods, and when he opens his eyes, there is a sadness to them.

"How is Ana now?" Bucky asks timidly, slowly slipping off the table. "Is she okay? Getting enough sleep?"

"Yeah, Bucky. She's alright, she's better." Steve answers, walking him over to the glass chamber. "She's strong. She'll be okay."

Bucky steps into the chamber, settling against the cushioned pads. A member of the of the medical team carefully straps him in, then checks his vitals.

"This will work." Bucky states firmly. "It will work, and I'll be fixed. I'm coming back to her."

"I know, pal."

"Thank you, Steve, for helping her."

"Of course, Bucky. She's family."

Bucky smiles at that. Then his eyes shift, and he nods to the man, who presses a button. Slowly the glass cover comes down and Bucky closes his eyes, looking peaceful externally. Steve hopes his honesty and stories of Ana don't give him bad dreams or makes him feel utter guilt and regret. The hissing noise and puff of white fog within the chamber signals that Bucky is now frozen once again.

 ****Present Day****

The second the door of the jet opens, Ana is running out, dashing through the hanger and weaving in and out of people. Steve just laughs and follows behind her, assuming they'll get her things later. When Steve arrives just two minutes after her, he sees Ana already in Bucky's arms.

Steve's heart swells at the sight. Not only because his best friend and the girl who has become extremely important to him lately are together, but because Bucky looks healthy. He looks well rested, peaceful and clearly Shuri made him a new arm that Ana can't seem to stop touching. Actually, neither of them can't seem to stop touching each other for long.

"You look a lot older than when I saw you seven months ago." Steve jokes, playfully shoving Bucky's shoulder.

"First it was ugly and now it's old. Why do I keep you around again?" Bucky quips, rubbing his knuckles atop Steve's head.

"Wait, what?"

Him and Bucky stare wide eyed at each other. Slowly, they both look at Ana at the same time. She's figured it out, he can see it in her eyes, and her jaw shifts as she crosses her arms.

"Are you telling me you saw Bucky seven months ago without telling me?" Ana states calmly. It's scary.

"Last month too." Shuri informs, unhelpful as she passes by the three of them.

Ana's eyes widen and she steps away from Bucky. "What the fuck!"

Steve winces, yet Bucky is trying to contain his laughter. Sure, he finds it funny because Ana didn't come back to the tower to pack then hit him over the head with his shield. Twice. She also launched various fruits at him as she saw fit, then filled his punching bag with flour so it exploded into a flurry of white clouds all over him and the gym.

"I was told it wasn't a good idea!" Steve says, stepping behind a table for protection.

"By who!?" She demands.

Steve looks flatly at Bucky. Bucky flips him off.

Ana holds up a threatening finger, but when Bucky gently grazes his fingertips along her hip, her anger fades. Instead, her eyes shift back to the man standing next to her, then back to Steve. She drops her finger and smiles.

"You know what? It doesn't matter." She tells Steve. To Bucky, she says, "I should be angry because I would have loved to seen you, no matter what you vindicated your reasons for. But it doesn't matter because you're here now and I'm with you and-"

Ana grabs Bucky by his face, pulling him in for a loving kiss. Steve should look away, but the happiness of both their faces as they wrap their arms around each other, is enough to make the past year worth it all.


	2. Bucky's Darkness (Buckys POV form chp50)

_**From Delicare Stages Chapter 50: Bucky's POV:**_

Chaos. Everything is chaotic. Everything is confusing. Everything sounds muffled when it should be loud. Everything is cold when it should be warm. Everything is gray when it should be golden. Everything is a fucking terrifying mess when it should be a calm, peaceful night, and Bucky is screaming.

Bucky is screaming because the emergency trauma doctors at the hospital refuse to let him through. They refuse to allow him to follow Ana, as she lays nearly lifeless on the gurney they're wheeling her on. There's resistance around his right arm, resistance around his torso, but Bucky is too blind to see what it is. All he sees is the golden light of his life laying broken and bleeding on a bed, being wheeled further and further away from him.

He doesn't know how long he struggles for, how long he fights against the resistance holding him back. All he knows is that Ana is taken from him. Ana is rushed through metal doors and out of his sight and there's nothing he can do about it. He wants to lash out, he wants to break every single thing he can reach, he wants everything to feel his pain right now.

Bucky needs to see her. He needs to be next to her. He needs to know if Ana is alive. He needs to know if Ana is going to make it, and he _needs to be fucking with her_. He reaches out with his hands towards the doors he can't go through, startled by two things. The first is the abrupt reminder that his left arm was completely shot off, just staring at his right hand. The second, _is_ his right hand.

Blood. There is dark red blood covering his entire hand, swirling in morbid ribbons down his forearm, soaking into the ripped fabric of his shirt. Ana's blood. Ana's blood is coloring his hand red, because he couldn't protect her. He couldn't keep her out of Hydra's hands, and he couldn't save her. It's as if his nightmare has come true, her blood covering his hand as she fights for her life.

His heart seizes in terror at the sight of her blood. It seizes in terror because he wasn't the one to inflict the gunshots, or even cause the blood streaming from her nose. No, his heart is frozen with utter horror because Bucky couldn't reach Ana in time before Erik Woods injected her with a sedative. Bucky hadn't been aware enough to realize they had been compromised again, and because of his mistake, Ana's blood is now staining his skin.

Ice seeps throughout his veins, there's fire in his throat, and there's red and black in his vision. There's that resistance again, pulling and tugging until the once cold, tainted with sick and blood tinged air, turns into the ripe smell of dead leaves and asphalt. Something sharp stings across Bucky's face, snapping his head to the side.

Suddenly, his senses come around, his vision clearing as he blinks rapidly, and the fire in his throat ceases. Bucky realizes he was yelling again, and he had been smacked across the face. Bucky realizes he's standing outside of the hospital, a good yard away from the entrance. Bucky realizes, as he turns his face to meet the ice blue eyes of Steve, that he is crying.

He has been crying this entire time, utterly at a loss. He doesn't know how to handle this, how to handle not following Ana. How to handle watching her be tortured; choked, stabbed, hit, shot, falling and crumpling to the ground. He doesn't know how to handle her blood on his hand, or the echoes of her pleading his name. He doesn't know how to handle the light of her eyes fading out.

"Bucky!"

Bucky blinks hard before meeting the gaze of Steve.

Steve grabs Bucky's shoulders, shaking him hard, "Get a hold of yourself!"

He looks terrified himself, no matter how much Steve tries to hide it, no matter how hard he is trying to keep up his Captain America persona. Steve is _scared,_ and Bucky sees it. He nods, his mind beginning to clear, but his eyes snap back to the doors of the hospital.

"Ana," Bucky croaks, his voice frail to his own ears. He looks back at his friend.

Steve stands there at a loss for words for a few moments. He shakes Bucky once more, gentler this time.

"She's," Steve clears the emotion from his voice, "she'll be- she's going to be okay."

" _Don't_ fucking lie to me, Steve!" Bucky spits, yanking away from Steve's hold. He feels his chin trembling, and the abrupt rage of fire ends just as quickly as it came. Softer, defeated, he repeats his words. "Don't fucking lie to me."

Steve crosses his arms over his chest, his shoulder hunched forward. He looks every bit of that skinny boy from their hometown, nervous and scared, unsure of what else life would bring him. He's only shown it once to Bucky, and now again as they stand outside the hospital waiting to hear Ana's fate.

Bucky can't take this.

"You can't fall apart, Bucky," Steve speaks somberly. "She needs you, and you can not fall apart."

Bucky clenches his fist, his heart feeling like it's breaking in his chest. The thing is, he feels her. He feels Ana, her energy, and he didn't even realize it until it suddenly cut off. Until the strange light was fading from her body, until he touched her leg, until she dropped to the ground like a broken doll. He knows she needs him. He knows Steve is right, but Bucky can't feel her energy anymore.

"I couldn't protect her," Bucky grits out, a fresh wave of tears escaping his eyes. He doesn't even care.

Steve vehemently shakes his head, his expression turning hard. "Don't you dare go there," He tells him sternly.

Before Bucky can say anything more, a car pulls up next to them, headlights flashing through the twilight. The door is thrown open, a frantic, frazzled and tear-filled Pepper stumbling out. Steve reaches out to catch her elbow, preventing her from falling.

"Where is she!?" Pepper demands, her voice cracking.

Bucky can't answer her, words caught in his throat. Pepper locks eyes with him, but there's no blame directed towards him, just desperation. His stomach just twists with knives as he continues to stare at her, Pepper's bottom lip trembling.

"Emergency surgery." Steve informs her. "We don't know much else."

The driver gets out of the car, a man Bucky has yet to meet, but has come to know him as Happy. He hurries around the car, gently taking Pepper's arm from Steve. Happy tells him he'll escort Pepper inside, quickly leading her towards the entrance. Pepper peers over her shoulder, straight to Bucky again, her expression broken, but her eyes understanding.

"Fuck!" Bucky shouts, shoving his hand into his hair, not caring of the blood now. "Fuck. What do I- I don't know what to do!"

"Breathe, Buck," Steve instructs. "You need to breathe."

 _Breathe. Count, just feel._

Fuck, Bucky hears Ana's gentle voice in his head. But he can't breathe, not with her struggling for her own breath. He can't count because he can't see those nine golden specks laced within her brown eyes. He can't feel, because he isn't holding Ana in his arms.

Bucky can't recall how he was able to calm himself enough to go back into the hospital. He doesn't recall how he ended up in the waiting room, clenching and unclenching his fist over the armrest of the chair. The rest of the team shows up, but no one comes near him. No one really speaks to him, and the silence of the hospital waiting area is driving him insane.

He can't bare to hear his own thoughts, filled with nothing but screams of how this is his fault. Ana is wounded, bleeding, having bullets removed and stiches sewn in, and her energy life source is- Bucky shakes his head. He can't think of that. Out of all this time he's known Ana, spent every day with her, spent hours falling in love with her, he knows that she isn't weak. Ana is strong, and he has to keep believing that, he has to keep believing that she will pull through.

It feels like days pass before a doctor is coming out from the doors, asking to speak with a family member. Bucky watches carefully as Pepper stands, her hand slipping from Tony's, as she's led to another corner of the room. Bucky keeps his eyes attentive, and his ears sharp.

All Bucky hears are the words, _ICU_ and _coma_ , and he's shooting out of his seat before he even comprehends it. He makes a beeline for the exit, Steve's words repeating in his head not to go there, not to blame himself. Of course, Bucky will blame himself, he probably always will blame himself for coming into Ana's life and dragging her into his world that always had an impending threat. That same threat that took ahold of her. That same fucking threat that Bucky will get his hands on and make him wish he had never even been a thought to be born into this world.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Steve's voice follows behind him.

" _Woods_ ," Bucky hisses out like poison in his mouth.

Sam is suddenly in his view, blocking him from the entrance. Bucky will have no regret moving people out of his way by force if that has to be the case.

"It's pointless, Barnes."

Bucky halts, inches away from Sam who's standing in defense. It was Tony who spoke those words, his voice eerily calm, and uncharacteristically quiet. Slowly, Bucky looks over his shoulder until he can see Tony standing up. Pepper is no longer in sight, figuring the doctor's allowed her to see Ana.

"What?" Bucky asks, his voice just as quiet, dangerous.

"He's not out there," Tony supplies, fiddling with a small gadget in his hand. He holds it up, a small blue holographic image displaying in the air.

"Tony," Natasha speaks up, a warning to her tone.

Stark ignores her. "Woods is in this hospital. Fifth floor, three guards."

Bucky spins, a strange mixture of rage and gratefulness surging through his body. He only gets four steps in the opposite direction, before Sam and Steve are both holding him back.

" _Get the fuck off me_ ," Bucky seethes, still attempting to move forward. He drags both men along with him. "I'm going to rip every single bone from his body for hurting my girl!"

"I can just let the security cameras go down for just a little while." Tony muses, but his mouth is punched at the corners, and is eyes look vacant.

"I know being arrested for murder is in your forte, Lefty," Clint pipes in lowly, directed towards Bucky. Bucky is still struggling. "But I don't think being arrested is best for Ana right now."

Gritting his teeth, Bucky stops trying to fight off Sam and Steve. His shoulders slump in defeat, knowing that vengeance at this moment will help Ana. Clint is right, so Bucky yanks himself out of his friends hold and trudges right back to his pervious seat.

He hears Tony force a breath through his nose, and when Bucky looks up he notices a tick in his jaw. No one says anything again, and the silence settles over them once more.

Two hours pass this time, Bucky counting all one-hundred and twenty minutes. During which, Natasha had gotten up from her seat next to Barton, forcefully grabbed Bucky by his collar and made him go into the bathroom. She stood silently next to him as she helped him scrub off Ana's blood that had dried o his skin. She remained stoic, as they were trained to do so, as the water turned a murky brown to red to clear. She didn't mention Bucky's tears escaping him again, only grabbed a few paper towels to dry his hand.

Two hours pass, and Pepper comes through the doors, her eyes red and puffy but her steps determined. She marches right up to Bucky, sparing a glance at Tony for a brief moment, almost like she's apologizing. She wordlessly hands Bucky a small blue rectangle, the words reading Family Access.

Bucky stares up at her bewildered, his eyes questioning if she's sure. Pepper nods once, placing the rest of the pass into his now clean hand. He stands on what feel like wobbling legs, gently placing his hand on her shoulder, holding the pass between his fingers.

"Thank you." He murmurs, voice thick and dry.

Pepper nods again, her eyes tearing up. Then she spins and takes her seat next to Tony once more. Bucky doesn't spare another glance, just hurriedly makes his way through the doors.

Bucky thought he was broken, thought his life was a living hell when he was Hydra's fist, and after. He didn't truly know what broken felt like until he sees Ana lying in bed, in _coma_.

She looks so delicate, so fragile, and the sight makes his heart shatter in his chest, broken shards slicing his insides. He barely even allows himself to breathe as he forces himself to sit next to her. He details every little thing of his girl, trying his best to ignore the tubes along her body.

Any trace of blood has been cleaned from her face, from her nose, her lip. The cut on her lip stands out, a stark contrast to her unusually pale skin. There are darkening bruises in the shape of fingers discoloring her neck, and a bruise on her cheek. Her left arm is kept tight in a sling, gauze visible through the gown she has on. He can't see the true damage under the blanket, but he does see the lump of the knee brace, her right leg elevated higher than her left.

She looks broken, and Bucky can't fix her. Tears prickle at his eyes again as he slides his fingers under her right hand, being tremendously careful not to move the IV needle. He gently wraps his fingers around hers, trying to ignore how cold her hand is, trying to ignore how her skin was a natural tan, is now the same color as his.

Bucky gazes at her beautiful face, her lashes resting against her cheekbones. He longs to see her open her eyes, to see those gold dots, to count them and ground himself. Instead, Bucky bends his body, lowering his head until his forehead to pressed to the blanket.

"I'm so sorry, Ana." He whispers, words trembling from is bitten lips. "I'm sorry. Please," He begs. "Please, stay with me. Please, don't leave me. Stay with me."

He knows there wasn't going to be a response. Bucky doesn't know how to handle this. All he can do, is listen to the sound of her gentle, slow breathing, and it's enough to ground him for the moment.

Three days later, Bucky doesn't get his hopes up too much, but Ana has come out of the coma. She's moved into another section of the ICU, during which, Steve tries to convince Bucky to go home. He doesn't. Wanda tries to get him to get something, he doesn't. Clint offers his own cups of coffee, but Bucky declines them.

It isn't until the fifth day, that Pepper gently places her hand on his shoulder. She coaxes him to at least take a shower in one of the on-call resident rooms. She was able to convince one of the residents to allow this. Bucky relents. He's only gone for twenty minutes, before he's right back next to Ana.

Tony nearly forces a dinner roll down his throat at some point. Bucky ends up yanking it from his grasp, placing it on the tray, promising he'll eat it later. Tony only shrugs, picking loose thread on his jeans, something Bucky has come to realize he does out of anxiety. Like himself, Tony doesn't look like he's slept very well, if at all.

At some point in Bucky's life, after running from Hydra, he realized he no longer truly believed in God, or any god. However, for the past nine days, he has found himself praying for hours, every day. During which, Steve comes in, offering a little black sleeve cap to cover the exposed wires of his left arm.

Despite being an enhanced human, sleep finally creeps up on Bucky. It's a light slumber, but he drifts off, resting his head against the bed, his hand once again wrapped around Ana's. He doesn't know how long he's drifted off for, because he suddenly hears a sharp inhale of breath.

Bucky frowns, trying to figure out if the sound was in his head or not. He does hear the shift of the pillow though, and that slowly brings him out of his slumber. He picks his head up from his arm, he must've adjusted to lay on his arm in his sleep, blinking slowly. Wide, tired brown eyes with gold little flecks star back at him. Bucky mentally counts nine dots, all nine golden dots, and his heart, after ten long days, kickstarts again. Ana is awake.

"Oh my god," He breathes out, relieve crashing over his body like a tidal wave. "Ana."

 ****Present Day****

"That's the last box," Ana huffs, slightly panting. "You never truly realize how much shit you have until you have to move."

Bucky glances over at her, carefully placing the kintsukuroi pot on the shelf. He sees her wince for a moment as she sits on the couch, rubbing over her right knee. Bucky hopes she'll have the knee replacement surgery soon, hating to see her in pain. He makes sure the art piece is far enough away from the edge before he walks over to her.

"I didn't think it was that much," Bucky says. He's about to sit next to her, when she smiles brightly.

"I lied," She admits, shifting and pulling out her hand she had hidden under the pillow. She holds out a small jar of Nutella.

"Is that-?"

"The one you gave me."

A fondness settles over his heart as Bucky takes the jar from her. "It's empty," He states flatly.

"Um hello, Nutella supposedly goes bad after two months from the sell by date," Ana tells him. "It's been ten months, babe, and as much as I love you, I was not going to let that go to waste."

Bucky chuckles. "I did intend for you to eat it anyway, doll face."

Ana throws another jar that she just pulled from the couch at his chest in retaliation to the nickname. She smiles innocently, as if she didn't plan to stuff two jars of Nutella behind the cushion. Bucky didn't even _notice_ her doing that. He catches it cleanly, smirking down at her.

"Was that all, or did you hide a bag of skittle too?" He teases. She pulls out two spoons from her pocket. "What the hell?" He laughs.

Finally, Bucky plops down next to her, placing the empty jar on the coffee table. He carefully maneuvers Ana's legs around until they're resting over his lap. She hands him a spoon as he opens the jar and tears off the foil.

Before she can dip her spoon into the spread, Bucky drops his spoon in favor of hooking his finger under her chin. He brings her face closer to his, pressing his lips softly against hers. For a moment, he just revels in the fact that Ana is sitting next to him, trigger free, in Wakanda.

"Love you, Annie." He murmurs against her mouth.

Ana's lips spread into a smile. "Love you too, Winter Flurry."

He doesn't know how he got so goddamn lucky.


	3. H-armless Fun

Settling into her life in Wakanda only takes a few days, but Ana didn't think this would happen so quickly already. She's nervous is the thing, and if she inflicts pain with her actions, then, well. She doesn't want that.

 _Breath in, you got this. Ignore it, ignore- no, don't look! If you look then you'll be done for. Ignore the feeling, concentrate._

It's fallen silent around her now, Ana solely knows it's because Bucky has opted to just stare up at her. She can even feel the coy, little smirk radiating off him. She ignores him, because the second she looks into those damn steel blue eyes, she'll just fumble and fail. She hears his short intake of breath, as if he's going to say something, but she speaks before he has a chance to.

"No, okay. I got this. I swear I- just, I'll do it," Ana rambles frowning in consecration. She places her hands on Bucky's left shoulder one more time.

For the past twenty minutes, Ana has been convincing herself to detach Bucky's vibranium arm, as he sits on the kitchen chair, shirtless, listening to him instruct her how to do it. She's nervous, because she doesn't want to hurt him, and also because Shuri apparently put some sort of metal arm low-jack within the prosthetic.

"We haven't gotten around to watching that Fullmetal Alchemist show yet," Ana continues talking a mile as minute, "but he's got an arm just like yours and his mechanic does repairs and stuff, right? So, one time he has to get it reattached. Chords and wires physically attach to each of his nerves, but it's so painful that he nearly passes out from it."

"Annie Doll," Bucky says soothingly, a hint of laughter in his voice. He places his hands on her hips for comfort. "You aren't going to hurt me. It's not excruciating, and I won't pass out. It's more of a minor uncomfortableness for a few minutes, then it's fine."

Ana nods, biting her lip.

"Hey, baby, we don't have to do this. I know how much you love it," Bucky reminds her, wiggling his fingers against her hip.

Rolling her eyes, she tells him, "I love all of you, Snowflake. Not just your arm. And, no. We're doing this because you'd rather work without it and this will make you feel better, and makes you happy."

"You make me happy," He murmurs, pulling her in by her waist.

"You're cute, and distracting," Ana quips, but quickly kisses his eyebrow. "Now, one more time. I find the little switch."

Bucky lifts his arm, so his hand is resting on her shoulder and she has access underneath. She finds the nearly invisible switch within the grove under his arm, pinching it between her thumb and index finger.

"Yes," He encourages.

"Turn it three times counter clock wise, then press up-"

"Yup."

"Then turn clockwise twice and-"

"Take your other hand and push my shoulder in-"

Ana does just that, "At the same time as pushing the switch up, and-" Bucky's left arm suddenly clicks and detaches. "Yes!"

Bucky winces but quickly schools his face into a proud expression as Ana wraps her arm around the bicep. She steps back with it, surprised with how light the arm is. She carefully maneuvers the vibranium into the cushioned case T'Challa provided for them. She locks it with the code Shuri gave her, then holds her arms up.

"I did it!" She exclaims triumphally.

Bucky smiles brightly at her, but then Ana catches a mischievous glint in his eye. Before she can react, he launches out of the chair, wrapping right arm around her waist, hosting her up and pressing her back against the wall. Her breath leaves her, as it always does when he pulls off this particular suave move. She has to brace her hands against his chest, and tightens her legs around his hips, giggling as Bucky gently bites her chin, then presses a quick kiss to her jaw.

"Proud of you, darling." Bucky whispers against her skin. When he pulls back to meet her eyes, there's nothing but love shinning in them. "See, I can still ravish you perfectly fine."

Ana quirks her eyebrow, slipping her right hand into his long hair and gently grabbing a fist full to tilt his head back. His sharp intake of breath when she does this will always be her favorite, along with how his eyes darken to a deeper blue.

"Or," Ana says, her voice sultry, brushing her lips over his, "I'll be the one to ravish you, _Soldier_. Think we should test that?"

"Shit," Bucky stutters out a sigh. "If I knew taking my arm off would be a thing, I'd have suggested it earlier."

A loud cackle escapes Ana's mouth, dropping her hand from his hair as she laughs unabashed. "You're the one who pressed me against the wall, so you take full responsibilities for my actions."

"Hmm, that I can do," He agrees, winking at her.

"I'm in love with a giant dork." Ana watches as Bucky's expression melts into a soft look, one that never fails to make her heart flutter.

"And I'm in love with a girl who makes me feel worthy, even without my arm." Bucky responds quietly, his smile soft and fond.

Ana's heart swells in her chest, because even after spending ten months away from each other, it hadn't deferred their love. In fact, they seem to be even more in love, stronger than ever, and it keeps growing. Ana can't contain her smile or her blush, so she drops her head down, placing a delicate kiss on the port of his shoulder.

"Bucky," She murmurs, as she lifts her head, pushes back his hair. "Take me to bed."

He kisses her lips, tender and tantalizing. Keeping his lips attached to hers, Bucky says, "With pleasure."


	4. Delicate Mornings

**One Month Later:**

Sometimes during the hours of the morning, be it early before the sun is barely rising or just an hour before noon, something wakes Ana up. Sometimes she doesn't know what wakes her; thirst? Hunger? A weird dream, a happy dream, a nightmare (although those are come less often). Sometimes it's a noise. Sometimes it's a feeling; maybe she has to go to the bathroom, or maybe she's too hot and needs to kick off the covers.

This time around, she feels a gentle little touch against her chin. She feels a whisper of warm breath against her cheek, a tickle of soft hair against her bare shoulder. She feels the light graze of courser hair against her chest, then a firmer press of plush lips kissing down her neck to her collarbone. She feels the delicate touch of those same lips over the bullet wound scar.

Ana knows exactly what wakes her this morning. As Bucky nuzzles his head under her chin, she turns her face, pressing a tender kiss on his forehead. He's warm against her, very warm, but it's cozy and feels nice and has Ana lazily bringing up her left hand to bury her fingers into his slightly tangled hair. She scratches her nails gently against his scalp, the content little sigh Bucky releases gives away how much he loves when she does this. He tightens his right arm around her hip.

Bucky has gone weeks without his vibranium arm on since Ana moved in with him. She knows how the lack of it makes him feel better, makes him feel more of the man he used to be, makes him feel safe around her. The fact that the trigger words have long been deleted from the fibers of his brain is something they still work on. He's had decades of it coded into him. The past seven months with him out of Cryo isn't enough time yet to help his anxiety and fear of somehow still hurting Ana fade away. She knows this. She understands this.

Ana kisses his forehead again. Then his eyebrow, then his forehead again. She moves her right arm across her body, her fingers wrapping around Bucky's bare hip, since he is practically laying on her. She doesn't mind, the weight of her lover has always comforted her. Let's her know this moment in time is real. That they're together, safe and warm in their bed.

"I love when you do that." Bucky murmurs against her skin.

"Hmmm?" Ana had nearly fallen asleep again with her lips pressed to his forehead. "Do what, babe?"

"Kiss me there." He whispers.

She kisses him again.

"Makes me feel...delicate. Like I could never hurt you."

"You could never." She tells him softly.

Bucky huffs in disagreement. They both know what he's talking about, but it's been a long time since then. Ana still firmly believes she wasn't that injured; they were just bruises.

"I feel safe with you, Ana." Bucky continues. "Just like this."

"Let's stay like this forever okay? Okay." Ana mumbles, still scratching the back of his head.

Bucky chuckles into her neck. "I love you, Annie Doll."

She wonders if Bucky can feel her lips spreading into a smile. "I love you too, Snowflake."

They fall silent for a while after that, just breathing each other in. The scent of sleep warm skin and the light aroma of the soap they showered from the shower last night. Ana keeps her mouth against his forehead, his soft hair tickling her nose. Bucky keeps his face pressed against her neck, his fingers of his right arm he's lying on gently brushing against her ribs once in a while.

His warm, even breaths lull her back into a light slumber. All Ana wants to do is hold the love of her life in her arms like this forever. To stay in these soft mornings, with gentle words and delicate touches. To keep blissfully happy in their own little world forever. That is, until Bucky shifts and sighs forlornly.

"Alright, baby." He says quietly, turning his face to kiss her chest, then a little lower to kiss the top of her breast. "Gotta get up."

"No." Ana breathes, tightening her fingers in his hair.

Bucky inhales sharply. It's become a major thing for him. He adjusts again, propping himself up on his elbow, and making her hand fall away. Rude.

"Gotta, baby," He kisses her nose. "Work the farm," He kisses her chin. "Feed the goats," He kisses her mouth briefly; they're way past morning breath.

"Nooo," Ana whines again, frowning and reluctantly opening her eyes.

Bucky laughs. "I'll make some coffee."

"No," Then she pulls him back down until they're chest to chest.

Bucky releases an _oof_ just to humor her. "You're saying no to coffee?"

"I'm saying for you to stay right here. With me. The goats can feed themselves."

"Ana," He chuckles.

"They got hay."

"Annie-"

"And Rosa knows how to rip open the bag of feed. She's resourceful like that."

"Baby," Bucky pops up and kisses her firmly to quiet her.

Ana wraps her arms around his neck, languidly moving her lips with his. They kiss like that for a while, Ana slowly bringing her left leg up to hook over his hip and bring him closer. She's reminded that they're naked, presses together and she vaguely wonders if she could use sex to convince Bucky to stay in bed.

"I know what you're doing, darling." Bucky growls into her mouth.

"Shhh."

"Mmm, it's okay. I'll stay for that."

Ana fully opens her eyes as Bucky pulls away. There's a gleam of mirth mixed in with lust and she doesn't quite know if this will go in her favor or not. Both, probably both. Since Bucky grins wickedly at her and slowly trails his lips down her chest.

She revels in the feel of his mouth for several moments, before her eyes snap open. Bucky is slowly lifting his body from hers, the little tease gently biting at her nipple. She bites back a moan, wanting to turn this around in her favor. She grabs a fistful of his hair, earning an elicited moan from him as she guides his head back to hers.

Smiling coyly up at him, Ana hooks her knee around his hip, then pushes him sideways to the left. Bucky falls over, Ana shifting and flipping him onto his back. She gives him a triumphant look, his eyes darkening and it's all the answer she needs.

Bucky ends up staying in bed the whole morning. Ana able to convince him with every swivel, grind and bounce of her hips, ride him slowly, passionately, their lips locked together for the majority of their morning sex session.

They swallow each other's moans, paint words into each other's skin with their fingertips. They hold each other tightly; when Bucky is close to coming as she rides him. When they go again, and Ana turns into a trembling mess as he slowly thrusts into her. When they come together after the third time and Ana can barely hold herself up anymore. So, with Bucky's chest pressed to her back, lifts her up so they're both on their knees, and hold her tightly with his arm across her breasts.

They end up tangled in a mess of sheets and limbs, sharing lazy kisses as the sun rises high in the sky and casting golden light on them through the window.


End file.
